In Reconstructing Haiti, USAID Focuses on American Interests

Instead of focusing on the needs of the people it’s supposed to help, USAID’s projects in Haiti after the earthquake have focused on furthering American interests. USAID has used American contractors, which costs a lot more than using Haitians, and has only built a fraction of the houses initially proposed. Attempts to find out where all the money has gone lead into an impenetrable black box, which USAID claims is necessary to prevent demonstrations. As long as aid is disbursed in this way, Haiti will continue to struggle with rebuilding.

Is USAID Helping Haiti to Recover, or US Contractors to Make Millions?

The international community pledged enough aid to give every Haitian a check for $1,000. The money went elsewhere.

Jake Johnston, The NationJanuary 21, 2015

The corrugated metal fences surrounding construction sites in downtown Port-au-Prince are covered with a simple message: “Haiti ap vanse,” or “Haiti is moving forward.” Where once many thousands of people made tattered tents and makeshift shelters their home, now massive concrete shells and cranes stand tall amidst the rubble. Returning to Haiti, along with much of the world’s major media, for the five-year anniversary of the earthquake that killed more than 200,000 and displaced 1.5 million, it’s impossible not to see some signs that Haiti is in fact “moving forward.” The large camps of internally displaced persons, the most visible sign of the quake’s lasting impact, have for the most part been cleared, though certainly some remain. But beneath the veneer of progress, a more disturbing reality is apparent.

Eighteen kilometers north on the dusty hillsides overlooking the sea is Canaan, an informal city now home to hundreds of thousands of people and, according to the State Department, on its way to becoming the second largest city in Haiti. “It’s a living hell,” says Alexis, one of the area’s residents, as we sit overlooking a new $18 million sports complex built by the Olympic Committee for Haitian national teams at the foot of the hills. “I’ll stay here because I can’t afford to go anywhere else,” she adds. Like many others here, Alexis received rental support from an NGO to move out of the camps in Haiti’s capital, but when it ran out, she was displaced all over again. While no longer facing the constant threat of eviction, Alexis faces a new set of problems: There are no government services in Canaan, water is scarce, employment even more so.